Sending out a weekly email to your team is an effective way to make sure that your people are focused on the same thing going into the weekend.
A good weekly email is part logistics reminder, part talking points and part motivational propaganda.
If you don’t currently send out weekly emails to your teams, it would be a great practice to start getting into! Here are some critical factors to consider when sending out weekly team emails to people at your church:
Predictable Time.
Pick a time during the week and try to stick to sending it then. For me, I think sending these emails out on Thursday mornings fits well into the rhythm of our work flow. Everything is (generally) settled for the coming weekend and it gives people time to digest it before the weekend.
Lead With Vision.
Make sure a piece of the email points back to why we are doing this work. Remind people about the reason for the church’s existence. Share a quick “win” from the weekend before. The more you can draw direct lines from what is happening this weekend to the “big picture” the better.
Use Pictures.
We live in a post-literate world … communicate with pictures. 😉
High Information Density.
People are going to be receiving this email every week, and so you need to make it worth their while to open it up. Avoid lots of fluff, but rather attempt to pack it full with as much helpful information as possible. Write it and then edit it to find ways to say the same thing, but with less words.
No Surprises!
Make sure to focus on things that might be different or out of the ordinary for the team so they aren’t caught off guard. Look for “variance” in your weekend experiences and take extra time explaining those details to your team.
